The Hockey Thread

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Surprised this wasn't created yet. Anyway, good win for the Wings last night. Their PP is deadly right now.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Brodeur isn;t playing today because of a bruised elbow. It's time for Kevin Weekes to take the starting job from him.

 

The Ducks were terrible in the beginning of season but they've rebounded after the trip out east.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Back to Back shutouts for Ryan Miller. Funny story...he allowed 5 goals in the first 2 periods against Tampa Bay and asked Lindy Ruff in between periods not to pull him because he wanted to try to go out and work out his problem and win the period. He hasn't allowed a goal in the 7 periods since.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Martin Brodeur's assault on the record book will be put on hold as the Devils' goalkeeper will undergo elbow surgery and will be out of the lineup for up to four months.

 

"This Thursday morning, Martin Brodeur will undergo surgery to repair the distal bicep in the left elbow," Devils president, CEO and general manager Lou Lamriello said in a statement."We will not have any further comment or update until after the surgery is complete."

 

I'm sure wherever he is Sean Avery is smiling.

[the max 0]

Martin Brodeur's assault on the record book will be put on hold as the Devils' goalkeeper will undergo elbow surgery and will be out of the lineup for up to four months.

 

"This Thursday morning, Martin Brodeur will undergo surgery to repair the distal bicep in the left elbow," Devils president, CEO and general manager Lou Lamriello said in a statement."We will not have any further comment or update until after the surgery is complete."

 

I'm sure wherever he is Sean Avery is smiling.

 

And looking behind his back for Milan Lucic.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I wonder if Kevin Weekes will be the Devils starter or they call on someone else. Ed Belfour and Dan Cloutier aren't doing anything.

[cd213 0]

As a Rangers fan, I'm not crying over the fact that Martin is out for a long time, but as aa hockey fan, that's a damn shame. I've always liked Broduer and hope he comes back to break Roy's record.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Some big nights for some big names:

 

Ovechkin and Malkin each have three assists in their 4-3 and 5-4 wins. Iginla has two goals and two assists in the Flames' 7-6 win.

 

Another similarity in the latter two? Both Pittsburgh and Calgary nearly cough up huge leads: Pittsburgh led 5-0 at one point, and Calgary squeaked by after opening 4-0.

 

 

[Fartsauce 0]

I've never seen so many comebacks and games go back and forth in a one week span like this. Oilers rally from 5 down and almost tie it, Nashville nearly does the same in a wild game against the Flames. How many leads have the Islanders blown since their epic collapse against the Habs this past Saturday? They blew another one to Atlanta tonight.

[the max 0]

Blake Wheeler changed his number and got a hat trick. Yayyyyy.

[the pinjockey 0]

Props to Homer for admitting the Eminger deal was a mistake and cutting his losses

 

Downie and Eminger to TB for Matt Carle

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/homepa...eman_Carle.html

 

I still have this feeling Downie will haunt them one day, but they needed an upgrade on D (if Carle can just be a legit #4 this is an upgrade). I don't think they were ever going to give Downie top 9 minutes and he is too undisciplined for a 4th line role. Carle may turn out to be a bust, but Eminger is a bust.

[Red Baron 0]

Downie was worthless and this was a solid move for Phili.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

This puts a bit more pressure on Mike Gillis. The buzz mid-week was that Matias Ohlund's contract talks are stalling, and Gillis was looking at a Ohlund-Carle trade.

 

As Baron mentions, this is all benefit for Philly, and continues to, IMO, dig a hole for Tampa, who seem to be doing everything in their power to downgrade their defensive corps.

[the pinjockey 0]

I wouldn't discount Downie that easily, besides his known Downie-ness he does have skill with the puck. He put up points in juniors, when he was sent to the AHL this year he had 8 points in 4 games (along with 23 PIMs) and he is still just 21. The way TB is going to get the best out of him is to send him to the AHL and leave him there til at least January. He is not a 4th line style player and you can't treat him as such. Let him get legitimate developmental minutes as a top 9 forward and if you can't allow that at the NHL level then keep him in the AHL.

 

But unfortunately he got in Stevens' doghouse and was never going to get the chance to make a single mistake here without getting a whipping for it (every other forward is playing like shit on D, but for some reason Downie is the only one thrown under the bus). He also desperately needs to go to whoever Riley Cote went to to improve his skating.

[the max 0]

I don't know why Tampa made that move. Woof. I thought Carle was the centerpiece of the Boyle trade and they shipped him off for someone who might be a third line player in a few years. Eminger is a bottom pairing guy as well.

[Guest]

Carle's contract is terrible, and he's really bad in his own zone. For 3.4 million, the guy is balls.

 

I wouldn't have made the deal if I were in charge down in Florida, but Carle for Eminger is a straight swap. And Tampa cuts salary. Then throw Downie on top. Good deal for them.

 

I'm sure Downie will stay up. The grit is needed.

[Matt Young 0]

The Kings kicked the Blues' asses again. I like LaBarbera, but the team has been doing better during the brief time Erik Ersberg has been in goal.

[the max 0]

Bruins have won 6 of 7 and are absolutely rattling everyone they play. Mair wanted absolutely nothing to do with Lucic last night, nobody on the Sabres did and there was nobody to corral him, since I think Peters and Gaustad are both hurt.

 

Now they get a 7 game in 11 days stretch. The same thing happened last year, they went on a roll and had a big stretch of games and almost knocked themselves out of playoff contention. Should be different this year. Loving this team so far.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Flyers are playing well but they have key breakdown moments once or twice and it costs them games. Just bad luck, I guess. I know they're better than their record, and hopefully it starts turning around into more W's soon.

[Red Baron 0]

I'm going to be a bit biased here, but Kostopolous did not deserve a suspension. Van Ryn made himself vulnerable.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

^

I don't know how I feel about that. The replay clearly shows a "oh shit, what did I do" look on Kostopolous'(sic) face after he hit van Ryn. That doesn't make up for it, but is three games too many? Too few? I feel discipline should be based on intent, not injury (but that's a whole other can of worms). With that, he didn't Dale Hunter him, but it was still a hit from behind, regardless of how van Ryn was positioned along the boards. Three games seems fair to me.

 

Welcome to the NHL, Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (that name reminds me of Denis Lemieux from Slap Shot). Impressive win last night over the Devils, and a win in a shootout over hockey's best team tonight at MSG.

 

Oh yeah, fuck Mikhail Grabovksy.

[Red Baron 0]

Van Ryn should have known better. I like the guy and all, but you don't slow up at the faceoff circle. You are going to get smacked well especially trying to play the puck away from the boards. Players should not be suspended when the victim doesn't know any hockey sense.

[the pinjockey 0]

Well they are clearly taking their time getting Carle into the lineup, he played 26 mins in the first game and 27 mins today.

 

Didn't see today's game (stupid fucking 2pm start), but he was their best Dman in the first game and with Sbisa was easily the best combo.

[jimmy no nose 0]

The Red Wings had a 5-2 lead early in the 3rd period before Jordan Staal picked up a single period hat-trick including a goal with 23 seconds left to send it to OT. He decided to throw an assist on top of it too setting up Fedotenko for the game winner. Crazy game.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

What a pathetic finish by the Wings. Always great to see a third line goddamn grinder get four points on you in a period and a bit. Just sloppy play at the worst possible time. Something is very wrong with the Wings D at this point. I give the Pens props for working for that W but the strongest part of Detroit's game is in the toilet right now.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I only saw the second period, but a pretty good game by the Habs tonight in a 4-0 win. Auld didn't have much chance on Higgins' two goals, and though I missed the replay of it, he may have been screened (or probably just didn't see, based on its speed) on Guilliaume's rocket. Good work on defence, hard work on the forecheck, and Price looked solid. That's better after a trainwreck game on Saturday.

[Matt Young 0]

The Kings pulled out a thriller in a 3-2 shootout win over the Stars. It was their 3rd straight win, one they needed since they lost the first 4 games of their now-concluded 7 game home stand. 2 were OT/shootout losses, though, so they came out of it with 8 points in the 7 games. Not too terrible.

[Nightwing 0]

What a pathetic finish by the Wings. Always great to see a third line goddamn grinder get four points on you in a period and a bit. Just sloppy play at the worst possible time. Something is very wrong with the Wings D at this point. I give the Pens props for working for that W but the strongest part of Detroit's game is in the toilet right now.

I agree. They're playing lazy and not winning games they should have, and a lot of it has to do with their penalty kill: They have a ridiculous amount of 5 on 3s occuring, which is throwing off their average. This is both good and bad: It might mean that their real PK power is not being shown, but it also shows that they aren't playing tight and are grabbing/holding to try and keep up.

 

It's hard to watch, really. I'm considering going on a 2-week vacation from them and hope that they get better when I'm not watching (Sort of a "Watched Pot Never Boils" superstition).

[Guest]

Brown destroyed Ribeiro toward the end of the game, and might get a suspension out of it. I bet some here would like to see it...

 

[Red Baron 0]

Brown's gonna get two games for it, but as the commentator said, Ribeiro spun around when he took the shot and Brown was committed to hit him after he took the shot.